Poorest in cash richest in life

Kiwis who earn $30,000 or less are the most likely to have a good work-life balance, according to a Government report.

Nearly 80 per cent of fulltime workers in the low-income bracket say they are satisfied with how they juggle their employment and home life.

That figure beat all higher earners – even those pulling in $70,000 or more, of whom 72 per cent were happy with their mix.

However, part-time workers claimed the best equilibrium of all.

Wellingtonians reported the worst work-life balance, while Tauranga and Manukau residents claimed the best.

The Social Development Ministry's annual national report card, published yesterday, also shows we are fatter but smoke less, earn more and live longer than we did in the mid-1990s.

But while most people are happy, parents appear to be spending less time with their teenagers.

In 2001, 62 per cent of secondary school pupils said they spent enough time with their parents, but that rate fell to 57 per cent in 2007.

About half of Pacific, Maori and Asian teens wanted more contact with their parents.

The annual snapshot shows New Zealanders are better educated, but voter turnout is down and fewer people can afford houses.

The report concluded that the country had improved on most social measures since the mid-1990s. But obesity, housing affordability and voter turnout had deteriorated.

One in four Kiwis aged over 15 was obese, the study says. And in 2008, just under a third of households were spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.

The study credits New Zealand with being one of the least corrupt countries in the world, but says it also has high rates of road deaths and homicides compared with the rest of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development.

Pay and employment figures have generally improved since the 1990s – though the impact of the recession is starting to show, it says.

The number of people aged between 25 and 64 with bachelors degrees or higher qualifications has doubled since the mid-1990s.

And fewer young people are smoking, with the rate for 14 and 15-year-olds more than halving in the past 10 years.

HOW WE RATE

* For 2006-2008, men lived an average 78.2 years and women 82.2.

* A quarter of the population aged 15+ are obese, up from 19 per cent in 1999.

* 66 per cent school leaves have NCEA level 2 or above, up from 60 per cent in 2006.

* Median hourly pay is $18.75, up 17 per cent from 1997/8.

* 78 per cent of workers are satisfied with their work-life balance.

* 29 per cent of households spend 30 per cent of their disposable income on housing, up from 26 in 2007.